Those for whom keyboard-crashing and breathtaking daredevilry are obligatory at the piano may have felt short-changed by Stephen Hough’s recital of Debussy and Chopin. Hough makes you hold your breath too, the better to savour perfectly calibrated tonal weighting and exquisite half-lights.
The wistful waltz of Debussy’s La Plus que Lente and the unaffected simplicity of Children’s Corner were both projected with tender intimacy, while the oriental colouring of Estampes was achieved with subtle and unassuming virtuosity.
The challenge of Chopin’s Ballades is to integrate their many passages of poetic introspection with the intervening flashes of fiery rhetoric. Delivering all four, Hough resisted the temptation to flaunt his matchless technique, unfolding narratives of exceptional organic coherence.
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The restraint of Hough’s address, self-effacing to a fault, generates relatively few spine-tingling moments, but his playing has perception and integrity, and is deeply satisfying. With the exultant conclusion of his final scheduled item, Debussy’s L’Isle Joyeuse, he allowed himself a modest flourish, his nose ending for once in close proximity to the keyboard. Then came two wittily dispatched encores, followed by a ravishingly played Nocturne by Grieg.
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